The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-13
THE BEAULIEU MYSTERY.
THE MURDERER AND HIS VICTIM
THOUGHT TO BE DISCOVERED.

riously-They are Traced to Within q
Mile of the Scene of the Tragedy-The
Result of Thorough Investigation.
The people in the vicinity of Beaulieu are
very curious concerning tho mysterious
murder which was committed there some
time ago, and all the white inhabitants OF
that section are doing what they can to
discover who the murderer and his victim
are DR.. Stephen f. Dupon has been inter
rogating some of the negroes around there,
and he has apparently struck the trail
that will lead to the detection
of the criminal, To obtain any
information from the negroes is, how
ever. difficult thing. for they are par
ticularly reticeut, thereby creating the sus-
picion that they know more about the af-
fair than they are willing TO tell. Those
who will speak at all, do so only after a
promise that no harm shall come
to them. This was the first thing to
turn suspicion toward the negroes, but per-
sistent inquiries have, and are drawing
from them facts that when put together
form well connected story.
SHE DENIED BEING WHITE.
1t seems that on Sunday, Aug p, white
woman arrived at Isle of Hope and asked
for work She was considered white by all
the negroes, but she herself claimed-to be
bright mulatto. She was given washing
by two families of negroes, and worked half
"a day for each. At night she went to the
house of Virginia Harris, negress of bad
character who lived with her grandmother,
Diana Thompson. Virginia said that
she knew the woman that she
had known her in Savannah.
When asked her name she said
it was Annie, and that she came from
Charleston. She said that she was running
away from 'her man. who ill-treated her.
She remained in the house all night and
next morning a TALL black negro with
lump over his eye called at the house and
saw her. Annie seemed to be frightened
when she saw the man but they talked to-
gether for while, and finally their quarrel
was made up. Diana Thompson, knowing
the woman was white, asked her what she
had TO do with that negro, and Annie re-
piled that he was her husband. Diana then
began round abuse of her, white woman
married to negro, and Annie stoutly de-
MED being Caucasian.
A WE'LL REMEMBERED PAIR
She and her alleged husband remained in
the house all night, and next morning they
left together. They started down the road
in the direction of Bethesda The sight of
a white woman walking with a negro at
tracted the attention of all the negroes who
saw them, and they are well remembered.
Jim Thompson, son of Diana Thompson,
saw them at his mothers house and saw
them start down the road together. Peter
Grant was hauling wood on the Bethesda
road and he saw them sitting by
the spring, half mile this
side of Isle of Hope Edmond Jones
saw them pass his house, on the Bethesda
road, and was so much astonished by the
sight that he ran to the front of the house
and watched them. When returning from
a trip with a load Peter Grant met them
again at the head of the road. Mr.. Fergu-
son, gentleman who lives in the vicinity,
saw them about mile from Bethesda and
the point at which he saw them was just
about mile from the spot where the muir
dered woman was found. Henry Shig, a
son-in law of Diana Thompson, saw them
at Diana's, and also saw them when they
passed his house on Tuesday morning, the
morning on which they were seen by the 4
Others. After Mr.. Ferguson saw them
they were not seen together again. Some
of the negroes say that the man
was seen on the road between Bethesda and
Savannah the next day, but the woman was
not with him. An effort is now being made
to find some one who saw him at that time
DIANA WAS OUT.
A MORNING NEWS reporter accompanied
DIR Dupon to the residences of the various
people who saw the pair, and from them
the story given above. Diana Thompson,
however, contradicted fatty statement she
made to the doctor ON previous day. DIR.
Dupon went to her house on Sunday and
called out Virginia Harris. He Questioned her
about the woman who stayed at the
house. but she positively denied that any
such woman had ever been there She said
that she had never seen or heard of Annie
from Charleston, and that nobody had
slept in the house except those who lived
there. While she was talking Diana walked
out and asked her grandchild what was the
use in lying. She then went on TO tell the
story credited to her ABOVE, giving the de-
details of how she Intercepted Annie about
whether she was white or mu-
latto. She said that Annie had
light brown hair, which she had
plated and rolled up, and that she wore
colored basque and light skirt. Yesterday,
when the doctor and the reporter rode up,
Diana was sitting in the yard, near fire.
1t was after dark and she did not recognize
the doctor, who is known 30 everyone in the
neighborhood. Dr. Dupon called to her and
asked if Diana was there. She quickly re-
sponded, mo. she's gone out"
"Oh no. she has not" said the doctor.
"Come out here, Diana, want to talk to
you
OuO WIN ~ wac, tuc Nil "Oiidh
shambled out to the gate and the doctor be-
gan to question her.
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS.
At once she became excited, and began a
statement that was Numerically opposed to
the one she had made on the previous day
She did not refer to any other points but
those made in the first statement, and
touched on them only to contradict them.
She said that the woman was a mulatto, and
she had never thought her anything else:
that she did not wear colored bodice, but
a black one and that her hair was black
These statements were not prompted by
questions, but they were volunteered, and
every time she contradicted her previous
statement before making her new one IL
soon became evident that the old woman
had been made aware of the necessity of
throwing the investigators off the track and
doubtless thinking that her new story was
believed she stuck TO it persistently, and
even went so far as to say that the man who
came to the house was not "coal black
but brown, and that he had no wen
over his eye. Virginia Harris had
disappeared. She was not at the house. and
her grandmother professed ignorance Of her
whereabouts IL is the desire of all the white
people OF the neighborhood that she should
be sent to Jail, for they believe that she
could tell more of the story than she would
admit, but they all fear that she has now
escaped.
THE LIE NAILED.